Sodium carbonate detergents are often referred to as ash detergents and provide various benefits over sodium hydroxide detergents (often referred to as caustic detergents). Ash-based detergents are noncorrosive and may be designated as safe to touch, providing obvious benefits with regard to shipping and handling. As a result, ash-based detergents are generally accepted as consumer-friendly and environmentally-friendly products since they are less hazardous. Alternatively, caustic detergents must be packaged and handled as a corrosive product as they can be dangerous, causing burns to exposed skin, particularly in the concentrated form. As the alkalinity of the compositions increases, the possible risk to workers also increases. Great care must be taken to protect workers who handle concentrated highly alkaline materials. A need therefore exists for cleaning compositions that minimize the risks to workers but perform as alkaline cleaners.
Electrochemical or electrolytic cells are commonly used for a variety of purposes, such as a means for water treatment and generation of chemicals, including hypochlorite and/or caustic solutions for use in various sanitizing, cleaning and/or disinfecting purposes. In general, electrolysis uses an electric current to split water into its two constituent elements: hydrogen and oxygen. Electricity enters the water at a cathode, a negatively charged terminal, passes through the water and exits through an anode, a positively charged terminal. Hydrogen gas and hydroxyl ions are generated at the cathode (negatively charged electrical current) and oxygen gas and protons are generated at the anode (positively charged electrical current). The reaction of water in an electrolytic cell is a redox process, as an oxidation reaction occurs at the anode while a reduction reaction occurs at the cathode.
Recent research and development efforts have focused on the use of electrolysis for on-site generation of bleach and other cleaning solutions for certain housekeeping applications. However, there is a need for additional development in the field of electrolysis to provide suitable ware wash applications, such as enhanced ware washing detergents. Accordingly, it is an objective of the claimed invention to develop methods for boosting performance of ash based detergents by increasing the alkalinity attributed to hydroxide in ash-based detergents without requiring the addition of additives and/or harsh chemicals.
A further object of the invention is the development and implementation of electrochemical cells and electrolysis technology to provide enhanced alkalinity ash-based detergents.
A further object of the invention is a method for conversion of the ash in an ash-based detergent into hydroxide alkalinity in order to create an ash-based detergent providing at least the same or an improved level of alkalinity in comparison to a caustic detergent.
Still further, according to an embodiment of the invention, methods providing on site chemical conversion of ash-based detergents are provided without the use of additional chemical products for the chemical conversion of the ash-based detergents and without the creation of additional waste streams.